GRADE A ALL THE WAY: OVC JAVELIN CHAMP IS PERFECT IN THE CLASSROOM

No, Becky Shull admits, she didn't enter Southeast Missouri State University four years ago with a goal of attaining perfection in the classroom.

It's simply worked out that way.

Shull, a Southeast senior, has never received anything less than an A in a college course. She's carrying a perfect 4.0 grade-point average and, barring an unexpected slip-up, will graduate that way on May 13.

"I had a 4.0 in high school, but it (a perfect college GPA) didn't really become a goal until my sophomore year," she said. "Then I thought I could keep doing it."

And Shull is not just a bookworm. She's also found the time to excel on the Southeast track & field team. She won last year's Ohio Valley Conference javelin title with a throw of 133-5 and enters this weekend's OVC meet in Murfreesboro, Tenn., as the favorite to repeat in the event.

Talk about your model student-athlete.

"She's really an amazing person, to accomplish what she has done in the classroom and in her sport," said Southeast track coach Joey Haines. "She's just a super young lady and it's been a privilege to coach her the last four years."

Shull laughed when she was asked how difficult it's been to attain academic perfection while also shining in athletics.

"It's kept me busy, that's for sure," she said. "I've really had to learn to manage my time, and I've had to pull a few late nights getting papers done after practice. But it's been worth it."

And it's not as if Shull has built her academic resume on a bunch of creampuff classes; she has a double major, in secondary math education and middle school education.

"I'm really proud of what I've been able to do," said Shull, who would like to eventually teach and coach on either the high school or junior high level. "I think it's a pretty big accomplishment because math is not an easy field. I've had to work at it."

And there have been times when Shull had some fairly narrow escapes with her perfect academic record.

"In advanced calculus last semester, for about 12 weeks I didn't think I'd get an A, but I did it," she said. "There have been a few close ones."

As might be expected, some of Shull's friends have given her a fair share of good-natured ribbing regarding her scholastic accomplishments.

"But they usually want my help in some math classes, so it's not too bad," she said.

Haines smiled when he recalled his earliest meetings with Shull. It was during her sophomore and junior years of high school, when the coach worked at a track camp attended by Shull at the University of Missouri.

"It was really kind of weird," said Haines. "We sat around and talked a lot at the camp. I just thought she was some country girl from the farm, but you really get to know people at a camp like that and one day she told me she had made a 32 on her ACT. I said what?' You really wouldn't know it, because she doesn't flaunt it like some people."

An accomplished all-around athlete at Kearney High School in the Kansas City area, Shull actually came to Southeast to compete in the hurdles which she still does and she's been pretty good at it, placing in several OVC meets.

Haines introduced Shull to the javelin just last year and it didn't take her long to begin excelling in the event.

"I picked it up for the first time last year, got some good coaching, worked hard at it and won the OVC," she said. "It just all came together for me."

Most college track athletes do not compete in events as different as the hurdles and javelin, but Shull has managed to remain solid in both.

"They are two technically different events and you don't see it all that often," she acknowledged. "But my first love was hurdles so I still wanted to keep doing that."

While Shull has enjoyed her experiences at Southeast and in Cape Girardeau, she plans to eventually return to the Kansas City area to teach and coach.

"I'm very glad I came here. It's been a good experience. I've really enjoyed the school, Cape and the people," she said. "But all my family is back home and that's where I'll probably wind up."

In the meantime, Shull has some unfinished business to take care of, beginning this weekend.

"My goal is to repeat as conference champion," she said. "I'm kind of in a slump right now, but if I throw well, I feel like I have a pretty good chance."

And once the weekend is over, Shull has to make sure she closes out her academic career in the style she has become accustomed to.

"I have to finish up my finals and make sure I get all A's," she said, laughing. "I don't want to mess up now."